Week 30, Day 2: The journey to Canaan
Today’s Reading: Genesis 12:1-20
Some thoughts from the reading…
Many things happen here in chapter 12. Abram’s father had started to journey to Canaan but had settled in Haran, ch 11:21-32. God now tells Abram to journey to a “land I will show you”. Abram is now 75 years old and is told to leave his country, his relatives and his father’s house to a place that will be shown to him. You can understand how this would take faith. Leaving all you know behind, going where you’re led and believing that God will give him what is promised.
We see that Abram is godly by the way he sets up altars to God in various places. But we also see the bad side of Abram. In Egypt, Abram fears for his life and thus lies about Sarai being his wife. This shows the fact that Abram was a man with faults just like anyone else. What is interesting is to see that Abram did not learn from this encounter because he does a similar thing later in chapter 20.
Sarai must have been very beautiful to gain the attention of Pharoah and to then be chosen by him for a wife. Abram must have realized that her beauty could be a problem and feared the unknown response from these unfamiliar people. Remember that David had Uriah killed to gain his wife. However, it is still hard to see how a man would be willing to sit by while his wife is taken by another man as his wife.
God is looking out for Abram and causes Pharoah to realize there is a problem and correct it.
This situation should reinforce to us that although we are faced with the unknown and unfamiliar, we need to trust that God will take care of us, come what may. Do not let a situation cause you to abandon your dedication to doing what is right and good.
Note that Abram is a descendant of Shem, 11:10. Chapter 9:26-27 told us of the dominance Shem was to have and how Canaan will be his servant. Down the road we will see the descendants of Shem (Israel) taking and subjecting the descendants of Canaan to be their servants.
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